You would not believe what we at Green Products found (and no they are not UFOs). Can you imagine a field planted with silver balloons as far as the eye can see, or a hillside covered with silver balls? It's not Christo's latest pop-art install, but rather, a solar farm. This is what Cool Earth out of Livermore, California envisions in the very near future. The solar collection concept is not new, but the concentrator is different from anything seen before on any renewable energy product.
The cost to install and maintain the current flat-panel solar cell design is prohibiting its large scale adoption. The glass cover is easily damaged by windstorms, hailstorms or vandalism. When this happens, it leaves the solar array exposed to the elements where they can be damaged. The unique balloon design by Cool Earth eliminates many of these shortcomings.
The silver orbs are made from Mylar, with half the orb covered in a mirror-like material and the other half clear. The material is resistive to the normal outside elements and easily repaired if damaged. Near the top center is the solar cell that converts all the concentrated light to electrical energy. This is truly one of the most unique green products we have seen in the renewable energy sector.
This unique design can concentrate the sunlight so well, it produces 300 to 400 times more power per square inch of solar cells than traditional flat-panel solar systems. By regulating the air pressure inside the balloon, they can focus the concentrated sunlight directly on the photocell. The air regulating system is designed to maintain the proper balloon size as the outside air temperature increases or decreases.
Each balloon is eight feet in diameter and can withstand over 100 mile per hour winds. The balloons are linked together in series, with the initial installation able to produce 10 megawatts, enough to power 3,500 homes during the day.
This system is ideal for any of the western states where sunlight is most abundant and is not obscured by long term cloud formations during an average year. During the summer months this type of system could be used as a "peaker" (that is, a peak-use power source) to prevent rolling power outages.
Some of the more interesting aspects of this solar power station are how simple the design is and how multiples are pulled together to produce a solar power plant. Check it out.
Michael
The cost to install and maintain the current flat-panel solar cell design is prohibiting its large scale adoption. The glass cover is easily damaged by windstorms, hailstorms or vandalism. When this happens, it leaves the solar array exposed to the elements where they can be damaged. The unique balloon design by Cool Earth eliminates many of these shortcomings.
The silver orbs are made from Mylar, with half the orb covered in a mirror-like material and the other half clear. The material is resistive to the normal outside elements and easily repaired if damaged. Near the top center is the solar cell that converts all the concentrated light to electrical energy. This is truly one of the most unique green products we have seen in the renewable energy sector.
This unique design can concentrate the sunlight so well, it produces 300 to 400 times more power per square inch of solar cells than traditional flat-panel solar systems. By regulating the air pressure inside the balloon, they can focus the concentrated sunlight directly on the photocell. The air regulating system is designed to maintain the proper balloon size as the outside air temperature increases or decreases.
Each balloon is eight feet in diameter and can withstand over 100 mile per hour winds. The balloons are linked together in series, with the initial installation able to produce 10 megawatts, enough to power 3,500 homes during the day.
This system is ideal for any of the western states where sunlight is most abundant and is not obscured by long term cloud formations during an average year. During the summer months this type of system could be used as a "peaker" (that is, a peak-use power source) to prevent rolling power outages.
Some of the more interesting aspects of this solar power station are how simple the design is and how multiples are pulled together to produce a solar power plant. Check it out.
Michael
About the Author:
Amazingly Michael Edwards loves to talk about. You can see more here at the home of green
